Artist Carnival: Save Thousands of Dollars

Why spend a fortune to go to Europe when you can go to Easton PA? My wife laughed at that over the top comment. And even though we did have good time on our day trip, I think she would still rather go to Europe. Maybe after the kids are finished with college we'll return to Europe but I think if your happy inside it easy to be happy where ever you are and until I can afford to travel again this fits with my philosophy of "live cheap and prosper".

The last time I was in Easton was a few years ago. When you drive from New Jersey into Pennsylvania you can cross the Delaware River at either the bridge on Highway 22 or 78. Both are toll bridges but in between these two toll bridges is the "free" bridge. On that one day I was feeling particularly cheap so I cut through Phillipsburg NJ to cross at the free bridge.

Whatever I saved in tolls I burned in gas. There is no main direct road to the bridge and without GPS I got a little lost in the square mile of old Phillipsburg that's built on the high ground overlooking the river. The free bridge was built for another time when horse drawn wagons mixed with Ford Model T's.

Across the bridge and you're right in the middle of Easton's down town commercial district. Now the day I that I stumbled in was dark, dreary and just plain depressing. I parked the car and walked around, nothing seemed to be open, nobody else was on the street and the it felt more like the set to the Twilight Zone episode. I was actually surprised not to see Rod Serling, of course I didn't and after a stretch of the legs it was time to put my over active imagination away and drive on.

“This highway leads to the shadowy tip of reality: you're on a through route to the land of the different, the bizarre, the unexplainable...Go as far as you like on this road. Its limits are only those of mind itself. Ladies and Gentlemen, you're entering the wondrous dimension of imagination. . .

Next stop The Twilight Zone."

― Rod Serling

Easton is the smallest of the three small cities that sit in the middle of the valley. Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton are strung together along the Lehigh River. The three cities are distinctly different and yet they are almost physically one location.

Recently the word is out that a great deal of investment money from North Jersey and New York City has been coming into the Lehigh Valley. Easton is about 70 miles from New York City or less than a two hour commute -which is now no longer seen as an obscene amount of time to go back and forth to work. Most of the new people in town are setting up businesses.

Last Saturday in Easton was nothing like the previous time. New restaurants, art galleries, a craft brewery, and a variety of unique shops have open. Easton would compare well to any smaller European city or market town. Easton wouldn't have the same prestige as going to Innsbruck Austria but it could be just as much fun for thousands of dollars less.

I have been to Innsbruck. The second time I was there I had a conversation with one guy over a couple of beers. He was ski instructor and had lived in America for a few years. Not only was he eager to talk to me, his English was far better than my German. Inevitably comes the question -what do you do for a living? At that time I worked a demolition sub-contractor. The ski instructor had a hard time understanding what I meant. At point he thought I was a professional vandal.

I was able to finally explain what I did for a living. He took a sip of beer from a liter stein (practically the only size they sell) and said "we never tear down our old buildings, they are our heritage".

That's one of the biggest differences between Europe and America, how In America we see buildings as financial assets and not necessarily as cultural assets. It feels like most new construction in America is built to last only 30 years, after that it's probably going to be torn down for something else. Why build something monumental and solid when that could becomes a financial liability later on. It is cheaper to demolish most old structures and construct a purpose built building than it is to gut and renovate the original building.

As a fluke the center of Easton was bypassed by highways then forgotten, ignored and now rediscovered. I believe there are thousands of towns and neighborhoods throughout the country waiting to be rediscovered. The American Dream with the house in the suburbs is being revaluated. Young and elderly adults are willing to give up the backyard and lawn care for a walkable community. Maybe this time the center of Easton will survive because enough people might enjoy a higher quality of life without having to buy more than what they need.

In the long run progress will continue on. London now has a skyline. The Parisians complain with ever new skyscraper and they try to build them on the outskirts of the city. The city of Prague is trying to ban them, because of the lack of development money during the Communist era Prague is one of the best preserved large cities in Europe. Another well preserved city in Europe is Monte Carlo, it is also one of the most industrialized places on Earth. In Monte Carlo you practically can not tear down any building. Behind all the historical facades is hundreds of hi-tech industries with offices, labs and small custom manufacturers. It is possible for a city to be both a nice place to work and live.

If you can't come to Easton start to look around the town where you live. Odds are that in your town or near your town is a diamond in the rough waiting to be found, cut and polished. It's funny how people are willing to spend thousands of dollars to try and find the strange and exotic in far away places and ignore what's close to home.